LA GRAVIERE, France — Andy Irons, reigning world champion from Hanalei, won the Quiksilver Pro France Saturday over Phil MacDonald of Australia and extended his domination of this year’s ratings on the world professional surfing tour. Irons is in a
LA GRAVIERE, France — Andy Irons, reigning world champion from Hanalei, won the Quiksilver Pro France Saturday over Phil MacDonald of Australia and extended his domination of this year’s ratings on the world professional surfing tour.
Irons is in a tight battle with six-time world pro surfing champion Kelly Slater of Cocoa Beach, Fla. The two are scheduled to face each other in the three remaining events on this year’s world pro men’s surfing tour: a contest starting next week in Spain, and two contest set for the November-December time frame on the North Shore of O‘ahu.
Irons claimed his fourth World Championship Tournament title of the year in stellar form working through perfect six-foot surf with bigger sets breaking further out of the sandbank.
The 25-year-old Kauaian asserted his authority from the outset, creating a daunting advantage in the decider within the first six minutes, opening with an eight-point tube ride that was followed by a near-perfect 9.63 barrel and forehand slash.
Irons rounded out the show with a 8.43 long backhand tube and searing cutback to nail the victory despite breaking his board in the last seven minutes.
In the win, Irons collected $30,000 and is currently more than 700 points ahead of his nearest ratings rival Slater.
Irons’ elation with the victory was summed up, “I had two bad contests in a row and started to feel like I was losing my form, so to get it back in France, it’s such a crucial part of the year.”
“Hopefully, it got through to Hawai‘i where the title will be crowned,” he said.
Irons said that after MacDonald beat Slater, he would have been happy with a second place finish.
MacDonald was a dark horse throughout the 40-minute decider, but played the patience game he perfected in the semi-finals against six-time world champion Slater of Florida.
MacDonald trailed by a huge combination of scores for the first half, but then locked in an 8.4 to be within a possible one-wave recovery that never materialized, the Australian needing a 9.66.
Slater shared third place in the competition with Australian Taj Burrow, retaining his third position on the current ratings and remaining in striking distance for this year’s world title.
Slater appeared destined for a showdown against Irons, but was stopped by MacDonald who clawed back from oblivion with a 9.33 tube ride shredding the lead Slater gained from two 8-plus rides.
